Originally I'd wanted to model the "Old Blue & White" flowers on Calla lillies, but had to modify the idea so that the flowers could face out vertically to be seen from a distance.
As I made more of them (with a copper wire armature), they became, co-incidentally, a similar shape to the "flowers" that then later appeared as part of the London 2012 Olympic cauldron.
The Guardian on "Betty" the Cauldron...
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/betty-cauldron-olympic-stadiumAlong with the Queen, Daniel Craig and a cast of thousands, the Olympic cauldron acquitted herself elegantly at the opening ceremony, raising her fiery petals at the end of the night to form a perfect dandelion of flame and set a new standard for understated first-night aesthetics.The cauldron's creator, the designer Thomas Heatherwick, resisted the temptation to join the global cauldron race, opting for grace and originality over sheer bulk.
The 8.5-metre-tall cauldron, which was crafted in a workshop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was intended to stand apart from the fiery troughs that had come before it.
"We were aware cauldrons had been getting bigger, higher, fatter as each Olympics happened and we felt we shouldn't try to be even bigger than the last ones," he said. Betty's design, Heatherwick added, had also allowed the organisers to stress the diverse but united spirit of the Games.
"This incredible event has 204 nations coming together, so we had a child from each country bringing these copper polished objects in."
Not reported was that the gas supply to the cauldron cost £5K a minute. (The lighting for the stadium cost £10K a minute)...Hopefully official "energy" sponsor, EDF, paid for that!
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